Killer Water

Discourse between Water and Peace
rue Ancienne 60 -1227 Carouge-Geneva
8.3.2022

Life longs for water
No life without Water

Water
came to the Earth
through Comets
from the Universe.

The Divine
The Eternal
The Absolute
Christ Creator
God with thousand names
Is the creator-donor of all water
Life is Water.


Water can lead to
Death

Too much water
In the deadly place
Like floods
Polluted water and sea
As sickness in legs and body

The Divine
Warns from the power of water
And calls for
Its careful use.


Water
needs moderation

The right amount
at the right place
at the right time
with the right purity

to create life
and avoid death
Kairos Water.


Christoph Stückelberger



The human right to water requires that everyone should have “access to suf-ficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use” (UNGA Res 72/178 (29 January 2018), § 2.) Water infrastructure, in-cluding water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), has been the target of attacks in many contemporary armed conflicts. Like anythign that has two sides, water is a power-ful peace-building tool for collaborative stewardship, but can also be weaponised or utilised as a means of warfare during armed conflicts. Today’s humanitarian crises in Ukraine, Sudan, and Gaza also reflect increasingly severe water insecurity: the attacks against water infrastructure result in a devastating impact on both the civilian popula-tion and the environment.

In collaboration with Art Now Projects, an innovative art gallery located in Carouge, Geneva, led by Frédéric Elkaïm, a "reciprocal performance" dedicated to the theme of “Water and Peace" will allow the audience to deeply engage with the theme of peace-making as seen through the prism of water. We are especially excited to welcome the contribution from the most celebrated humanitarian, Stephen Cornish (MSF - Médicins Sans Frontières or Doctors Without Borders), Geneva-based water scientists of Palestinian roots including Nidal Salim (Geneva Institute of Water, Environment, and Health) and Mark Zeitoun (Geneva Water Hub), along with ambience curation by Soren Sorensen (Dorian Gray).


At IC Forum 2024: What is Peace? on April 11-12, 2024, Meeting of Waters had the wonderful opportunity to showcase our own stand. Our exhibit featured the "River of Hope" flowing into the World Water Library. Along the banks of this symbolic river, young people from the forum were represented by 1MYAC (One Million Youth Action Challenge), which was invited by SDC (Swiss Agency of Development and Cooperation).